Hastings Old Town and famous beach fishing fleet

Went for a walk along the Hastings Country Park with our good friends Dennis and Irene. We started from Firehills to the east and walked into Hastings along the cliff tops, up and down 3 glens which bisect the coast hereabouts. It was another hot sunny day making the ascent of the valley sides a toil but fortunately some of the ascent was in the shade. The final descent into Hastings was down 215 steps alongside the East Cliff railway.

The reward for this first leg was fish and chips at the world famous Mermaid cafe at Rock a Nore and although the fish was good they put mushy peas over my chips which made their excellent chips soggy. They do wonderful chips I think, quite the best around, and the fish is not far behind either.

As a further reward we had an ice cream as well, sitting on the seafront licking furiously away to prevent the melted deliciousness from dripping away. After that there was time to dip feet into the cooling sea. First time I've paddled for years - the stony beach proving a challenge to the feet.

Then it was time for the walk back to Firehills - this time along the heads of the glens track which, while uphill, is very gentle and generally shaded. This shot was taken part the way up the aformentioned steps beside the East Cliff railway - this time going up 215 steps - the last ascent of the day. I like the black fishermens huts and the boats surrounded by their detritus pulled up on the beach. These boats catch the fish served in the myriad of fish and chip places here.

There was good news for local fishermen last week as some of the "unused fishing quota" (not sure why it is unused) has been given to local fisherman rather than the big trawler fleets thereby offering them a lifeline and security. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall led a campaign known as the "Fish Fight" championing local fishermen such as those at Hastings and to reduce the criminal waste of fish through the EU discards policy. This was where large quantities of perfectly edible fish were thrown back into the sea, dead, because the trawlers had caught their quota of that particular fish.